


Quiet

by fizzygingr



Category: Kamen Rider W
Genre: (except I'm talking about it now whoops), Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, The Year We Don't Talk About, set between eps 48 and 49, you know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:26:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22281808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fizzygingr/pseuds/fizzygingr
Summary: Akiko goes looking for Shotaro; with Philip gone, she can't stand the quiet.
Relationships: Hidari Shoutarou & Narumi Akiko
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	Quiet

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired in part by the image of Shotaro standing in front of the whiteboard in rz_jocelyn's fic Not Alone: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1054441  
> Go give them some love!

Akiko finds Shotaro in the back again, of course. He’s standing in front of Philip’s whiteboard, staring at it as if some new writing might have appeared overnight. When she opens the door, he doesn’t even look her way, just keeps tracing his fingers across some text that Philip must have scribbled...almost two weeks ago, now.

Huh. It feels like yesterday and a hundred years ago at the same time.

When the cat starts nudging his ankles he finally moves, slowly, bending to scoop him up and give him an affectionate scratch on the head.

“This is where Philip wrote notes on our cases,” he murmurs, turning Mick’s head gently to show him the board. “And things he researched, too, like this here.” He points at something Akiko can’t see, and smiles. “He was always learning new things, you know. I don’t think he would have been satisfied until he knew everything the Gaia library had to offer him, and even then…”

He chuckles, and scratches Mick’s cheek. 

“He was going to learn all about cats, too. How to take care of them, keep them happy. He would have been a real good friend to you, Mick. A real good friend. Just like he was—” 

Shotaro stops short, choking on his words. His face crumples.

It’s enough to make Akiko unfreeze from where she’s been standing, and realize she’s intruded enough; blinking back tears, she shuts the door slowly, trying to slip out unnoticed.

“Akiko?”

She stops in the doorway and swears. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you-”

“Did you need something?”

“No, I was just-” Akiko pauses. Why  _ did _ she go looking for him anyway? She knew he’d probably be back here, and that no, he probably wasn’t okay, and he would want some space. 

It was just that, if she was being honest with herself, she couldn’t stand the quiet.

“Akiko…” Shotaro turns to look at her. He looks broken, devastated, but even then, there’s room in his face for compassion. “Where’s Terui?”

“Sleeping.”

“Oh. Good.” They both know the pain from his burns has made that difficult lately. He’s healing, but not quickly enough. None of them are.

This god-awful silence stretches out in front of them, and Akiko doesn’t know how to fill it, so she finds herself scolding. “I’ve barely seen you all day,” she begins-

But Shotaro looks wounded by her chastising, in a way he never has before, so she stops.

Akiko wants to be in control. She wants to tell her boys to sleep more, or take their meds, or talk about how they’re feeling. She wants a way to be useful to them, a way to make  _ any  _ of this better. But an annoying rational voice in her head reminds her that some things can’t be made better, and she can’t tell Shotaro how to grieve.

“...but if you need to be alone,” she says, “I’ll leave you alone.”

Shotaro blinks, but doesn’t respond. She turns to leave.

“Oi, Akiko!”

She turns, and Shotaro is closing the gap between them.

“It’s too quiet here, don’t you think?” he says. “It’s not right.”

Akiko nods, tears gathering in her eyes, and then Shotaro is around her, one arm wrapped across her shoulders, the other still holding onto Mick, who yowls indignantly. He releases him, and she laughs softly.

She wraps her arms around him and holds on for dear life, burying her face in the shoulder of his jacket, letting tears and snot flow freely and…

“Oh, no, Shotaro, your jacket!” She pulls away, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “And it’s the nice one, too!” 

“Eh, don’t worry about it.” He pulls off the jacket and places it over her shoulders, then drops his hat on her head for good measure. “Here, all yours.”

It’s dumb and a little absurd, but they laugh anyway, because they haven’t had much to laugh about lately. Shotaro motions toward the couch, and they sit, side by side, as close together as they can.

“You know,” Akiko says, leaning her head against his shoulder, “I kept trying to get him to lie down on this couch before transforming. Philip, I mean. I didn’t want him ending up with a concussion.”

“What?” Shotaro looks at her, offended. “No, a Kamen Rider doesn’t lie down before fighting! He has to be ready! It’s the whole- it’s- it’s honorable!”

“He said the same thing. He said ‘Shotaro wouldn’t stand for it.’”

“Good.”

It's still quieter than it should be here. Akiko supposes it's always going to be. But she's grateful for Philip's memory, and for Shotaro's kindness, and for not having to endure this quiet alone.


End file.
